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Immigration
General Considerations * Xenos interact with supernatural powers as mundane humans, except in the following cases: ** Any effect that would add a template or another source of supernatural power to a xeno. Embracing a xeno results in a corpse and possibly a very sick vampire (see below). Subjecting a xeno to the Wintergreen Process has no effect. A xeno taken to Arcadia will not be changed by that place, and may be harmed by being unable to contract with its elements. ** Any effect that would tamper with a xeno's mind or soul. For purposes of mental illusions, suggestion, Lunacy, Quiescence, soul theft, or the like, the xeno is treated as a supernatural with Supernatural Tolerance equal to her Alienation. If the effect would cause her to violate an Instinct, add three. ** Any supernatural technological effect, including machine Contracts, anything involving the God-Machine or artificial-spirits, or the Industrial Key. For these purposes, the xeno is treated as a supernatural with Supernatural Tolerance equal to half her Alienation, rounded up. If the effect originates from Tech, she uses her full Alienation instead. ** Any effect that would directly alter the xeno by tampering with the "source code" of reality, including direct use of Supernal symbols (see Mage: The Awakening: Imperial Mysteries) or a Reality Hacker targeting her with an attack subroutine of his Endowment. The xeno is treated as her choice of a supernatural or a mundane human; if she chooses "supernatural", her Supernatural Tolerance is equal to her Alienation. ** Any Grey or Red has non-terrestrial biology. Her flesh and blood are toxic, even to vampires and supernatural cannibals; any creature native to Earth that consumes any part of her body gains no nourishment and suffers from a Toxicity 5 Lethal poison; living beings suffer this once per hour for twelve hours, while the undead suffer it for as long as the material remains in their systems. ** Because they use Alienation, xenos do not suffer normal breaking points. * Beyond their ability to operate Tech, abductees are normal humans. As a minor template, the Abductee Merit cannot be added to any supernatural creature. Matters of the Soul * A xeno whose soul is lost suffers the normal effects of soul loss. In the Role and Behavior mechanics, treat "regain one" as the Vice and "regain all" as the Virtue. The Soulless and Enervated Conditions are otherwise unchanged. * In addition, a xeno or abductee whose soul is lost cannot gain or spend Understanding, and cannot by any means attempt to create, repair, use, or install Tech. He may still archive Tech normally, though it has no actual use to him. * A human who somehow has a xeno soul attached, or vice versa, suffers a -0 breaking point at the end of each chapter as her human and xeno instincts conflict. Aura and Other Signifiers The aura signifier for xenos and abductees is a feeling of unease when observing the aura. In addition, xenos may have significantly different emotions, for which no human language has words; these may be represented by colors that are not used in human auras or that are normally outside the human visual spectrum. Xenos have the following traits by default, for purposes of Old Laws or other effects that care about such things: * Alive. * Sapient. * Anatomically human (unless Grey or Red). * Psychologically not human. * In possession of a soul. * Not in possession of a soul native to Earth. * Neither Ridden nor Claimed. * Not represented by Supernal symbolism. * Supernatural (unless Blue). * Technological (unless Blue); for all purposes, this is highly advanced. * Material. * Not native to Earth. * Native to material reality. Tech has the following traits, for purposes of Old Laws or other effects that care about such things: * Inanimate. * Technological; for all purposes, this is highly advanced. * Supernatural. * Material. * Not native to Earth. * Native to material reality. * Not Infrastructure. * Not Iremite. * Not enchanted. Blue-Book Lines Innocents A child may be born with the xeno template. Substitute Study for Academics, Science, and Occult as necessary. Antagonists A UFO cult is a cult just the same as a blood cult, and can cause problems just the same. Book of Spirits Emotional Influences cannot affect a xeno, and xenos cannot provide Essence to emotion-spirits. For unknown reasons, no spirits of xenos, xeno emotions, or xeno Tech seem to exist. Book of the Dead Xenos produce ghosts normally, though a xeno ghost does not suffer mutations, cannot use Tech (though in places like the Junkyard, xenos with installed Tech may attempt to incorporate it into their designs), and cannot have emotional Influences. A xeno leaves identifiers normally in the Ocean of Fragments, but does not leave "I am an alien"; this is about as fundamental as "I am", and can only be lost at the same time. Xeno ghosts can appear in tableaus, but the tableaus that contain a xeno tend to be strange affairs centered on non-human ideas of Virtue and Vice. A tableau may appear to focus on Gluttony, but in truth focus on the Virtue of Consumption or the Vice of Signaling; or may appear to focus on Faith but in truth focus on the Vice of Dogma or the Virtue of Obedience. Inferno Xenos can form pacts normally, but their souls are worthless to demons and are not available for bargaining. A xeno who looks into Hell suffers breaking points normally, but the actual visions are colored by Instincts rather than human Integrity. Vampire Xenos and vampires are, in some ways similar, but in other ways could not be more different. Both appear human and are driven by strange motives. Both attempt to manipulate humanity from the shadows. But xenos are not required to prey on humanity, and manipulate humanity for a "greater good". Some claim that these distinctions are meaningless: that while xenos are not required to hunt, their Plans are more careless of individual people that a vampire's hunt; and their "greater good" is little more that a self-serving justification for grabbing power. Others claim that they make all the differences in the world: that what xenos do is a necessary evil against the Empire. Werewolf A thing that appears human, but is guided by inhuman urges? That describes xenos, but it also describes the Spirit-Claimed. Some werewolves bother to look for the signs of possession (especially if they have learned to recognize the differences between Tech and Numina), but others jump straight to trying to deal with the "spirit". Mage Mages have trouble figuring out what to make of xenos. Xenos use Tech that sometimes resemble ritually enchanted items, but even the Free Council can't find any traces of the Supernal in them. Xenos appear human, but archmages have never found a symbol or patron for them in the Supernal. Both have access to a larger universe than any other supernatural type, but their universes only intersect on Earth. In theory, xeno cosmology can be fitted into the Atlantean cosmology and vice versa, but the details don't quite match; Supernal laws, though filtered through the Abyss, should work everywhere, but some xenos tell stories that, on other worlds, the same natural laws apply despite having no or different Supernal Realms. Changeling More than one interaction between the two groups of refugees has gone sour, as xenos bear a striking resemblance to some of the Gentry. Otherwise, the interactions tend to go well: both are refugees from another world, fleeing and fighting virtually omnipotent enemies. There is one particular quirk to Changeling-xeno relationships. A Changeling who feeds in the presence of a xeno finds that any Glamour harvested is tainted by inhuman emotions and takes one level of bashing damage per xeno present. Promethean Prometheans, in general, tend to resent xenos. The aliens could so easily be human, but actively reject their humanity. At the same time, though, xenos are seemingly the only "stable" beings that can interact with Prometheans without suffering Disquiet. Even the xenos that can have reactions analogous to fear or suspicion do not seem to suffer any odd effects from exposure to the Divine Fire. However, this is not truly correct; a xeno who would normally suffer the effects of Disquiet becomes a "carrier". Until the Disquiet Condition is resolved, anyone interacting with the xeno is exposed as though the Promethean herself were present. Usually, the subject of the Disquiet remains the Promethean, but in rare cases it becomes the xeno. Hunter See ''Comet Chasers''. Geist Sin-Eaters have limited dealings with xenos. The refugees have limited use for dealings with the Underworld, and the Bound have little interest in anything beyond the realms accessible to Earth. Still, though, a Sin-Eater will sometimes take an academic interest in the dead or the gods of other worlds, and a xeno will sometimes need information retrieved from a xeno-ghost. Mummy Contrary to the theories of some mortals (and the bragging of some xenos), aliens had neither more nor less than usual interest in Ancient Egypt or Irem. The Pyramids (and the Pillars) were purely human works and those xenos involved in their creation were most likely involved in the same role as human laborers. On rare occasions, though, a mummy will mistake Tech for a relic, and cause problems as the mummy tries to claim the "relic". Demon Some speculate that the God-Machine was originally alien in origin. While it was not Imperial, no one has yet confirmed nor denied that it was terrestrial. Some Inquisitors, and occasionally groups such as the Deva Corporation have attempted to understand xeno Tech in the hopes of finding God-Machine principles in it; and likewise Plan HACK occasionally tries to find a technological secret in Infrastructure. Beast Like mages, Beasts have no idea what to make of xenos. A xeno registers as human to a Beast's senses, but Beasts cannot feed on xenos; even a Beast who can cause something analogous to fear suffers effects similar to those of a Changeling: the Beast cannot feed, and takes one level of bashing damage. No Beast has yet found a way to perform Family Dinner on a xeno, but some Beasts have found ways to create Kinship Nightmares such as "It Is Not Human", "You Cannot Understand", and "No One Understands You". Princess The "Embassy to the Skies" is a recent invention among the Enlightened, and those among it aware of the Imperial/xeno divide are likewise divided on which side it should take and what its methods should be. Beyond this, some conflicts exist on both goals and methods between xenos and Princesses, and their attempts at shaping society tend to clash; even a Troubadour and a BACH are likely to disagree on the purpose of their respective arts, let alone a NINE and... just about anyone other than a Follower of Storms. Genius Science that has little in common with human understanding is familiar to xenos, though only rarely was Tech invented by someone "mad" by their own species' standards. On the other hand, this mutual familiarity can cause problems: a xeno who gives into strange Instincts to make Tech work better can, to the uninitiated, strongly resemble an Illuminated scientist. Leviathan Deviant Category:Incomplete Category:Rules Information Category:Setting Information